• Scientific Name: Micranthes melanocentra (Franch.) Losinsk.
• Ref: Izv. Glavn. Bot. Sada S.S.S.R. 27:601. 1928
• Synonyms: Micranthes pseudopallida Losinsk., Saxifraga melanocentra Franch., S. pseudopallida Engl. & Irmsch., S. sulphurascens Hand.-Mazz.
• English Common Name: blackcentral rockfoil
• Chinese Common Name: 黑蕊亭阁草 hēiruǐ tínggé∙cǎo, 黑蕊虎耳草 hēiruǐ hǔ’ěr∙cǎo
• Family: Saxifragaceae
• Genus: Micranthes
• Distribution: Alpine scrub, meadows, rock crevices, streamsides, bogs; 3000-5300 m. S Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi (Taibai Shan), W Sichuan, NW Yunnan, Xizang [Bhutan, Kashmir, Nepal, Sikkim].
• Photo: 07/21/2011, Mt. Taibai, Qinling

Stem 3.5-22 cm tall, crisped glandular villous. Petiole 0.7-3.6 cm, pilose; leaf blade rhombic-ovate or broadly to narrowly ovate to oblong, 0.8-4 × 0.7-1.9 cm, both surfaces pilose or glabrous, base cuneate, rarely cordate, margin crenate-serrate, glandular ciliate, apex subobtuse or acute. Inflorescence corymbose, 1.5-8.5 cm, 2-17-flowered; bracts ovate or elliptic to oblong, 0.5-1.5 cm × 1.1-11 mm, both surfaces glabrous or pilose, base cuneate, rarely broadly so, margin entire or dentate, apex acute. Sepals spreading to reflexed, triangular-ovate to narrowly ovate, 2.9-6.5 × 1.2-3 mm, glabrous or pilose, veins 3-8, confluent into a verruca at apex, apex obtuse or acuminate. Petals white, rarely red to purple, proximally with 2 yellow spots, or base red to purple, broadly ovate or ovate to elliptic, 3-6.1 × 2.1-5 mm, 3-9(-14)-veined, base contracted into a claw 0.5-1 mm, apex obtuse or retuse. Stamens 2.2-5.5 mm; filaments linear; anthers black. Ovary semi-inferior, dark purple, broadly ovoid, 2.8-4 mm, with an obscurely lobed, annular nectary; styles 0.5-3 mm. Capsule ovoid, 7-11 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 22*, 66, 88, 99, 110. (Flora of China)

07/29/2012, Mt. Jiajin, Sichuan

07/29/2012, Mt. Jiajin, Sichuan